How Congress Plans To Contest Madhya Pradesh Polls

The Congress on Tuesday said that it will contest the next assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh on issues raised by the people during its former president Rahul Gandhi's ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra', and not on a projected face.

Assembly elections in the BJP-governed MP are due by the year-end.

“The next regime in Madhya Pradesh will not be the government of theft. We will come to power by winning elections. We will contest elections on the basis of issues. Why do you (media) want the polls on the basis of face,” Pawan Khera, who heads the media and publicity department of the All India Congress Committee, said in response to a question.

Mr Khera along with Supriya Shrinate, chairperson of AICC's social media team, held a press conference.

He said that issues are prioritized by the people of Madhya Pradesh and not by the Congress.

During his Bharat Jodo Yatra, a foot march from Kanyakumari to Srinagar, Rahul Gandhi had several conversations with people across the state and issues like price rise, unemployment, corruption and women's safety came up through those talks, Mr Khera said.

The Congress leader said that people expect political parties to take up the issues which bother them.

Mr Khera said the issues that were in existence during the first term of Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in MP are still there with more severity.

Mr Khera said people have made up their mind and are demanding accounts of the work by the ruling BJP as to how the cost of a cooking gas cylinder went up from Rs 400 to Rs 1,100.

The BJP is creating hatred in society and helping its friends get rich, he said.

Ms Shrinate said the Karnataka elections, in which the Congress registered an emphatic victory, have given a clear message that the people want their issues to be talked about and addressed.

The people of the country conveyed during the Bharat Jodo Yatra that they want a leader who listens to them and doesn't impose his “Mann Ki Baat”, she said, apparently referring to the monthly radio programme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Congress leader said that whatever poll announcements made by the Congress in Madhya Pradesh so far were based on the feedback received during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)